Bloomin' midget pony!.. Or idiot rider?

AShetlandBitMeOnce

AShetlandBitMeOnce

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Agreed to ride my friends 14.1hh, only 3hh2inches smaller than my boy, thought that it would be nice and less effort that lugging his wet 7ft t/o off and reaching to put bridle on.

Nope.

- Literally threw his t/o into the next stable trying to hang it on the wall.
- Practically threw the saddle straight over his back.
- Couldn't find his tendon boots as the only ones in the drawer seemed shetty sized (they were his, pony size for anyone wondering).
- Brushing under his stomach was impossible! I don't bend that far.
- I'm sure my a**e looked ridiculous in a 16.5inch saddle.
- Got lost as I only know which turning to take because it's next to the garden with the rabbit hutches in it. Couldn't see over the hedge into the garden so that was useless!
- Trotting completely mind-boggled me. Couldn't think what I was doing weirdly, realised that I am not used to going up-down up-down at 100 miles an hour.
- Almost wet myself going through the bulls field, they're bl**dy huge at eye level.
- Jarred my knee getting off, the ground comes up fast!

How do you guys do it?! I never realised I was so set in my ways...
 
JFTD said:
Ha! I keep telling people, even small jumps look huuuuge from down here!
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Post jumping lesson with jumps still up I point them out to one of the horse riders at my barn saying they look huge but really aren't. He said "well everything would look huge on a pony." Mine's not even that small. he's more honey than pony :-P But even with the jumps looking huge I still love my pony!
 
Hahahaha this post is great. I haven't ridden anything that small in ages. 17hh feels small to me now. Id almost love to try bigger to see what its like!
 
LMAO, Thanks for the chuckle.

Mine are 13 and 14h. Thankfully they don't trot. Otherwise, they are cheap to keep and Estrella wears the cutest little shoes, and rugs.
 
And those are the reasons I love my midget :lol: I can see over his back, its no hassle putting saddles/rugs on, and while he rides big, when you get off the ground is very close :P
 
hahaha we need a like button for posts like this!
I am a fully paid up member of the pony squishing club though, my girl is 13.2 and that's currently the max height that I'm comfortable riding, any bigger is just too far to fall!
(Please note I don't actually squish her :D)
 
oldie48 said:
Mr B is 16.2 but I'm helping with a 10hh shetland, I feel completely useless as everything is in the wrong place!!!
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It's not in the wrong place - it's just miniaturised! And rising trot is like sitting on a jack hammer! It takes a lot of getting used to but once you get the hang of it it becomes second nature.
 
Hoof picking! I'm used to real horses (:D ). With real horses, there is quite a bit of space between ground and belly. I had wondered why we (cob and I) were having hoof-picking-out issues, until I realised I was holding the poor girls hoof so high (relatively. Not high in real horse terms), that it was nearly wedged in her arm pit. She doesn't mind me hoof picking, now that I've stopped origami-ing her poor little tree stumps twice a day.
 
Whilst in many ways I quite like riding the odd bigger horse (they don't half make the jumps look smaller), I'm just not prepared to give up the marvellous feeling of coasting under the branches on the fabulous 13.1hh Mr H.

I mean, the 16.2hh warmblood I used to ride for lessons was probably easier in terms of actual riding, but she was a) flipping difficult to mount/dismount with my dubious knee, and b) considerably narrower than I'm used to (the joys of Highland Ponies), so I spent quite a lot of time feeling like there wasn't quite enough horse under me, for all I was about a foot higher up in the air than usual.
 
Haha brilliant! Went to visit my friend today and her 17.3h whopping ID. She's 5'4. She's used to his height although she did say it takes her about 6 attempts to chuck his rug over him!
 
Been riding a 16.2 for three months, rode a 14hh and a 15hh the other week - massively over-egged getting off, hurts doesn't it?
 
Ohh, I so know the feeling! After my old horse and my new one which i just lost both being 16.2 with fairly big smooth strides ive taken over daughters 15hh- who i actually originally purchased for myself anyway a few years ago. Its so hard and weird! There is no neck length but he's a hyper little chap so i often feel like I'm almost holding his bit! ...... and as for trotting........I must look a right state.
I also do the hit the ground way to soon thing and damage my cold feet!
 
Haha :) I do miss being able to see over hedges, but I find comfort in that the ground isn't all that far away. The short bouncy trot takes some getting used to :D
 
My little 14hh girl is like a comfy chair to me but ive had other people who've rode her say she is though most horrible uncomfortable thing ever to sit on lol, which funny enough is how i feel riding most other horses, i guess i have gotten too used to the whizzing bouncyness to appreciate anything smooth lol
 
S'funny, I ride a 13.2hh Fell pony and find her paces comfortable to ride. When I ride my OH's 16.2hh Cleveland Bay his paces seem to be in slow-mo; rising trot should be 'up, up, up, up' and instead it's 'up...up...up...up...'.
 
Well credit to you all, I don't know how you do it! Whilst the floor is approx 6.5ft away, with a big horse like Jake, I know 5 minutes before he throws in anything cheeky. Anything below about 15hh is gone before I have even seen the 'horse eating crisp packet' :D
 
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